Looking Back, Moving Forward
by MissSifaka
Summary: Summer before seventh year, Hermione is preparing for a movie festival when she discovers some shocking secret in her parents' attic.
1. Intro

**An Unusal Discovery**

Every year for the past sixth year, Hermione and her muggle friends would dress up for the annual movie festival of Framlingham, their hometown. The festival is always at the end of July and lasts for a whole week. Everyone gets to dress up as movie characters and attend movie screenings in the park. This year, however, Hermione is having a lot of trouble finding THE perfect costume. She and her friends decided to each pick a Audrey Hepburn look for her movies. Hermione chose "My Fair Lady", her friend Emely picked "Breakfast at Tiffany's" as she desperately wanted to show off her long, tanned legs with a black dress and Samantha had the perfect dress to play the Hepburn of "Sabrina". Hermione did not know much about Audrey Hepburn's movies, it had been Sam's idea; she had picked "My Fair Lady" because it was the only movie she knew besides "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

She was going had googled pictures of "My Fair Lady" to find inspiration. Once she had a pretty good idea of what she wanted, she went to the attic to see if she could find something before buying anything.

"Wow, this is some gigantic mess up here" she thought out loud. Everywhere she looked, there were boxes and boxes of stuff. There even was an old loveseat she thought she might have seen at her grandparents' house. "I might have more chances of finding something in here than I originally thought". She started moving boxes around to find if there were boxes of old clothes or costumes. She found baby clothes, 80's clothes, which were kind of funny and she couldn't help but laugh trying to imagine her mom or dad wearing them. As she moved more boxes around, she found a big, old, mahogany chest with the letters M. A. Z. carved on it. Being her usual curious self, Hermione opened the chest. What she found was not what she expected. She never expected to find magical objects at her muggle parents' house.

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 1

**Looking Through the Past**

The chest was full of objects; there was a couple of glass phial with greyish liquid in it. She found a small pensieve, a few pieces of papers and letters, a necklace, a ring, some baby clothes, a baby blanket, and a photo album. To say she was shock at finding this in the Granger's house was an understatement. Her mom and dad were at work so she couldn't ask them for explanation. Her curiosity got the best of her; she could not wait for the Grangers to come back from work. She took one of the phial containing memories and poured it in the pensieve.

As her finger came into contact with the watery surface, she was transported into the memory. She could see two women, one with black hair holding a dark haired boy and one with blond hair accompanied by a blond toddler. They were in the middle of what looked like Hogsmeade during a warm summer.

"Cissa, it's so good to see you" said the black haired woman.

"It's good to see you too Isabella! How are you holding up, you know with what happened to Attilio and...?" said Cissa.

"I'm trying to keep it together up, but at least there's nothing to worry about now. Despite everything I still miss them. I will always miss them" said Isabella with tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"You know I'm always here for you, you should come home with me and Draco, we'll have some tea" offered Cissa.

Hermione was taken aback, what was a memory of Narcissa Malfoy and Draco doing in her house. Who was this Isabella? She went through the chest and took the letters and papers.

_Dear Mia,_

_Today is the last time your mother and I can look at you. Tomorrow you will be in the arms of your new loving and caring parents. You will turn eleven one day and discover our world without any of the prejudices from the pureblood worlds we are currently living in. When you were born an awful man was trying to control and convert the pureblood families of our world to abide by his laws and principles. Some families joined voluntarily, some joined under the promise of wealth and power and some, like us, were forced to join him against our will._

_This man learned that your mother was pregnant and said he knew we would raise you to hate him and his values so he wanted you dead. We had to do something, this is why, right now I'm writing this letter. We are taking our baby girl to a muggle home. I hope you will forgive us for giving you away._

_We hope that one day we will be able to come back in your life._

_With all our love,_

_Mom and Dad_

The letter was full of blotches, probably from tears, and Hermione could feel her own eyes tearing up at the pain those people must have felt writing this. It was obvious that the letter was referring to Voldemort and a pureblood family. For now, she wasn't a hundred percent sure if she was the Mia mentioned in the letter.

She took the photo album next, it was an album full of family pictures. Most of them were of a baby girl being held by what Hermione assumed to be her parents. There were a few of them with the young boys from the memory she had previously watched. She also found pictures of the little girl being held by Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy or by another couple she couldn't identify. The last pictures were of six adults; she recognized Narcissa and Isabella from the memory, Lucius from previous encounters, but not the other people.

When she was done looking at the photos, Hermione took the necklace. It was a little locket with a coat of arm engraved on it. Inside were the picture of black haired man and a brown haired woman.

She must have been in the attic for far longer than she thought since she heard her parents coming in.

"Hermione? Dear? Are you home?" she heard her mother say.

"Hi, eh yes mom, I'm up in the attic".

"In the attic? What are you looking for up there?"

"I was looking for old clothes, you know for the movie festival. I'm going with Emely and Samantha tomorrow night".

"Ah, you need some help?"

"Hum, yes and no actually, where are you?", Hermione took the stairs down the attic and went looking for her mother.

"I'm in here, said her mother and appearing in front of Hermione, what do you need help with?"

"I need help trying to figure out what is a pensieve doing in our home and what is this M. A. Z. chest doing in our attic". As she said that, her mom's face went white.

"You opened that chest?" Hermione nodded her head. "We should get your dad then."

They both went into the dinning room where Hermione's father was busying himself making supper.

"Charles, Hermione found the chest". Charles' face went white, pretty much like her mom's face had just a few minutes before.

"Did you go through what was in the chest?" Hermione nodded.

Charles gestured for Hermione to sit at the kitchen table.

"Sixteen years ago, your mom was hit by a drunk driver, as she was pregnant, the shock was hard for the baby and she miscarried. The same night, an old, weird man came to our house, saying he had been watching our family for a while and he had planned on bringing us a baby so ours could have a brother or sister, however since we had lost ours a few hours ago, he brought us the baby to ease our pain. He said the baby would be extremely talented and to not be scared of it, when time would come we would understand and he'd come back to help us. With him, he had a beautiful baby girl and the huge chest you found." Her father was crying and his wife was holding his hand with tears in her eyes as well.

Hermione was too shock to say anything, she was looking back and forth between her mother and her father.

"So you're saying that I'm adopted…, they nodded, and all the stuff in this chest is mine?" They nodded again.

"Wow…"

"Hermione, said her mother, we love you...you know that right?" asked her mother.

"Of course mom! I love you both too...I'm sorry, you know, I'm just shocked. Would you mind if I skipped supper? I don't think I can eat right now."

"Are you sure you don't want to eat?" Knowing his daughter probably wanted to go back to the chest she had just found he added "Get the chest to your room and I'll get you a sandwich or something" said her dad.

"Thanks dad". She hugged them both and went to get the chest.

She didn't sleep that night, she went through the chest and watched the memories. She didn't find anything concerning the identity of her biological parents. She, however, found that they were friend with the Malfoy. There were pictures of her from the time she was born up to her first birthday, nothing older than that so she figured she was given away before her second birthday. She used to play with toddler Draco and another baby boy, there were always the same three couples and the same two other babies in the pictures. It was almost one in the morning when she fell asleep, with the baby blanket in her arm on the floor beside her bed and the chest. Her dreams were full of images of babies and of her biological and adoptive parents, she was smiling in her sleep.

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 2

**The Unexpected Visitor**

Hermione was still dreaming when her mother knocked on her door.

"Hermione, dear? Someone's here to see you." Hermione looked through her sleepy eyes at her mom.

"Who is it?" she asked. Her mother shrugged her shoulder.

"I don't know, he just said he had to talk to you. Probably one of you friend or something, looked about your age".

Today was the first night of the movie festival so she didn't think much of it, it was probably one of the boy in town who had been coerced to ask her out by one of her friends.

"Tell him I'm coming mom" she said moving out of the blankets, still on the floor, and stretching her aching back.

"Okay, I'll let him in the family room, your dad and I have got to go to work darling".

Hermione thanked her mother and went to the bathroom, quickly brushed her teeth and combed her hair into a high ponytail, then changed her shirt for a black tank top, thinking her jeans short could be worn another five minutes or so. She went downstair and stopped dead in her track when she saw who was waiting for her. It wasn't one of the boy in town.

"Zabini...what are you doing here?" said Hermione, trying to control her voice.

"I'm asking myself the same question. My mom was crying in her room this morning, saying rubbish about find her niece and then she collapsed. My dad gave me a ring, saying it would bring me somewhere important and that I had to bring back my cousin."

"Ehh...well, your cousin isn't here. I think…"

"My dad said something about an opened chest and that who-must-not-be-named wasn't dead yet so it didn't make any sense…"

"Ok, stop right there. An opened chest?" asked Hermione panicked.

"Yes, dunno what it is or what it mean though" he said in an unconcerned way.

"I think I might be able to help, unfortunately…" Hermione said, still panicked.

"How is that?"

"Come with me, I'll show you".

They both went into her room.

"So, this is your room Granger?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Get your mind out of the gutter Zabini…" she said rolling her eyes.

"This is a chest I found yesterday afternoon and apparently, it's mine…"

Blaise looked at the chest, looking through it quickly before seeing a photo album. He notice the picture of the front cover and look at Hermione again.

"This is my aunt and my uncle, he said, I have no idea how you got these, but you have to come with me".

"I'm not sure if I should, how do I know I can trust you?"

"See the ring of my finger?" she nodded looking at the ring on his right ring finger.

"I bet the locket has the same one engraved on it".

She looked at the locket on the floor and back at his ring.

"Okay, but it's only because I want answers and I want to be back here before five P.M." she said.

"Fine."

He took her hand, she closed her eyes knowing what was to come, and they both disapparated. When she reopened her eyes, she was looking at a magnificent manor.

"Welcome to my house Granger."

They apparated right in what Hermione assumed to be the foyer. Blaise led her through numerous hallways until he stopped in front a door, knocked twice than opened the door.

Inside the door was a man and a woman. Hermione recognized them as one of the couples in the baby album she found in the chest.

"Mother, father. This is Hermione Granger".

Gesturing to his parents he said "Granger, this is my father, Valentino, and my mother, Isabella. Father, I still don't know what I was suppose to find, but I apparated in front of her house and she said she found a chest yesterday afternoon."

"Hermione...she's is the girl you've told us about Blaise?" asked the woman.

"Yes mother, the smartest witch of our age" he said winking at Hermione who blushed and looked at the floor.

"Don't be shy dear! said the woman, so my son said you found the chest. You found baby pictures in it, as well as a necklace, a ring, a baby blanket and some memories right?" she asked.

"Yes that's right Mrs. Zabini". Hermione said. "Why exactly am I here…?"

"My brother, said Blaise's mother, was your father." Both Hermione and Blaise were shocked at this news.

"My sister-in-law was absolutely against he-who-must-not-be-named, she despised him and it was well-known amongst his closest circle of followers. When he found out she was pregnant, he wanted the baby to be killed because he didn't want it to grow up with beliefs against his. Your father decided to bring you to a muggle family after talking to Dumbledore in a desperate attempt to save your life. The Dark Lord found out about it, went to your house and killed both my brother and sister-in-law, she said with tears in her eyes, what he didn't know is that your parents gave you to us before, in case that happened. We had no choice, but to follow his demand when Dumbledore came to pick you up. Before he was gone, we asked if it was possible to let us know when you would open the chest. He must have charmed it or something because his patronus appeared to us and told us that the ring with would bring us to you. That's probably when I collapsed, because the only thing I remember is waking up in my room to my husband telling me that Blaise was gone to find you." She had tears in her eyes and couldn't let go of Hermione's hand.

Hermione was shocked. She couldn't think straight. She looked at Blaise, Isabella and Blaise's father and it came down to her: she was a Zabini. The news was too much and she fainted.

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 3

**The Aftermath**

When Hermione woke up, she was in her own bedroom, the sun was down and she was still in her day clothes. Evidently, the first thing she thought was that she had imagine all this. She looked around the room, to find that the chest was not there. Oh yes, this was all a bad dream.

She got off the bed, starting to panic a little about the movie festival tonight and went downstair. That's where she realized it had not been a dream after all. Sitting in the living room was Blaise Zabini and his parents, her aunt and uncle, and the chest. They were talking, looking through some baby pictures and eating some amuses-bouches her mother reserved for big events.

"Hi Hermione" said Isabella.

"You know Granger, I thought you took everything pretty well until you collapsed and I had to catch you…" said Blaise with a smirk.

"Sorry to have inconvenienced you Zabini. Why are you all here?" she asked to no one in particular.

"My mother thought it would be safer if we all came here and well your parents asked what we were doing here and one thing leading to another, here we are looking at baby Hermione in her undies…" said Blaise, he was not even trying to hid his smirk as he said the last part.

"You know we also have some of you, and they are moving" said Blaise's mother winking at Hermione. He was not looking so smug after that and Hermione smiled a little.

"Emely called, said her mother, I told her you couldn't go tonight. I didn't know when you'd wake up".

Hermione was bummed at the thought of not going to the movie festival, but she reminded herself that she probably should deal with this situation first. Ron would always tell her: sometimes she had skewed priorities.

"Darling, said Hermione's mother, your dad and I talked with Mr. and Mrs. Zabini and in regards of the recent events, we think it would be best if you went to live with them for the rest of the summer. No, listen to me I'm not done, said her mother when Hermione looked like she was about to say something, we have a dentist convention coming up and we won't be here. Plus, this will give you the opportunity to get to know your biological family a little better. This is our decision Hermione, we would have sent you to your grandparents for the remainder of the summer anyway. The Zabinis offered to look after you."

Hermione's mouth was open. She was to live with the Zabini for a month. No one would believe her if she tried to tell them that.

"Close your mouth Granger, you'll catch flies", said an amused Blaise.

"When am I leaving?"

"Tomorrow night, right after dinner, said Blaise's father, we'll come get you".

They continued talking for a while, Hermione still feeling uncomfortable while Blaise looked like he was having fun looking at pictures of her and hearing her mother tell humiliating stories about her. When it was time to go, they all said goodbye and Isabella hugged Hermione and told her she was beyond herself to have found her niece.

To be continued…


	5. Chapter 4

**Start of Something New**

The Zabinis had driven to the Grangers' house knowing it was a muggle neighborhood and it would be preferable not to apparate. This is why, when the car came in front of immense metal gates, Hermione had an amazing view of Blaise's house (more like manor, mansion, castle or any other synonym for really big house)!

"Welcome home Hermione" said Isabella.

"Wow..." was the only thing she could say or think. She was looking everywhere, she saw the trees, the grass, the flowers and the fountains. It was really an amazing place.

"If you like the exterior, you'll love what's inside" said Blaise.

"Really! No hidden dungeons and creepy armors?" she replied smirking at him.

"One day you'll get over your Hogwart's prejudice and the image you have of Slytherins. After all, you could have been one if you had been raised by your birth parents" he said.

"If all Slytherins can be like you are to me right now, I won't mind hanging out with them".

"Yeah well...we'll see about that".

"What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked.

"I think that even if Draco is nice to you, you might not be too inclined to hang out with him".

"The ferret is a different story Blaise, you know our history! I don't have a history with you, or with most of the other Slytherins for that matter, or at least not as bad of a history".

Blaise shrugged and kept walking towards the front door of his house. She followed him, her aunt and uncle in walking a short distance in front of them. They quickly arrived in front of the door when Isabella turned around and told Hermione to follow Blaise to his room while she would ask the elves to prepare her room.

Hermione didn't bother telling them that she didn't need elves to do that. She was exhausted from the past two days, she was a guest in their house, and she had no idea what "preparing the room" entailed.

"My parents' wing is on the right side, or the East wing if you prefer. The South wing is where all the fun is, the pool, game room, library and other fun stuff. The West wing is where the guest rooms are. We'll likely be sharing the North wing since you're family. It wouldn't do to have you in a guest room".

Blaise explained the different parts of the house while Hermione was looking at the portraits on the wall. She had not even notice when he mentioned the library. Blaise was right, the inside was breathtaking, even more so than the gardens she saw in the front.

"Here we are cousin, this is my bedroom, the door next to it is my bathroom and there's a small sitting room on the other side. There are three floors to this wing and all of them have the same pattern. Draco usually stays on the second floor and you'll likely have the top floor. You can either take the big staircase or the one at the end of the corridor".

She was trying to register everything he was saying. They went in the sitting room so Blaise could make a floo call to Draco.

"Don't talk unless you want him to come right away" he said before he made the call.

"Hey mate" said Blaise, "you there?"

"Yeah, what's up? I called earlier, you weren't there! I thought we were supposed to watch that new movie..."

"Sorry...family drama came up" he replied, "Tomorrow?"

"Yeah sure, I refuse to spend another day listening to Mother rant about the bad tea manners of the Parkinsons" Malfoy replied.

To that, Hermione had to refrain from laughing. It was no secret that Pansy looked like a pug, but to imagine her with the table manners of one was something else.

The conversation between Draco and Blaise was cut short by Blaise's mother and father.

"Hermione", said Valentino, "we decided that you should have the second floor of this wing".

"But, I thought it was Malfoy's?" said Hermione.

"Yes, it was. However, as you are family and new, we would rather have you closer to Blaise and us. Just in case you need something. We'll re-arrange the third floor for Draco."

"Okay, but won't Malfoy mind?" she asked.

"Draco is a gentleman, he will understand I'm quite sure!" said Isabella. Hermione was not as sure as Isabella was, but she thought it would be rude to push it.

"Okay, thank you so much for all you're doing for me. You really didn't have to! I could have gone with my grandparents..."

"Nonsense! We want to get to know our niece! And Blaise we'll get the sister he always wanted!", to that Blaise blushed a little, "now, would you care for something to eat or would you rather go to bed?"

"I think I'd like to get some sleep, it's been an...eventful few days".

"Blaise will take you to your new room. The rooms are to Draco's taste for now, but tomorrow we'll discuss that."

"Sure, thanks again for having me". With that, Blaise directed Hermione towards the end of the corridor so she could take the stairs up one floor.

Blaise indicated a door on the left as her bedroom. Before he left, he told her he would come get her at 8 the next morning for breakfast. Hermione nodded and opened the door to her new bedroom.

It was nothing like she would have imagine. They were Malfoy's room and yet there was no green...The furniture was made from a dark wood and the textile was a very deep blue. The wallpaper reminded her of when she visited Versailles, in France; it was detailed with blue on blue patterns. It was a beautiful room.

All of her belongings, including the chest, had already been transported to her room and unpacked, probably by house elves Hermione thought. She did not want to try and find where her pj's had been put away. She just didn't have the energy to do it. She decided she could sleep with her tank top and underwear. She made her way to the bed and noticed the ring on her bedside table. It was the ring that had been in the chest. She picked it up and put it on her right ring finger where it fit nicely. Without a second thought, she pulled the covers from the bed and climbed in it. Her last thought before falling asleep was how weird it was to lay in what used to be Draco Malfoy's bed. She didn't think about that for long when sleep came to get her. Falling asleep might have been easy, but the wake up call would be a bit more tumultuous.

To be continued...


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Surprise!**

Draco had not given a second thought to Blaise's "family problems". Merlin knows he had his share of those. However, he was determined not to spend another day with his mother. That's why, when he woke up that morning, he floo straight to his room at the Zabini Manor.

He was still sleepy and in his pj's and didn't notice the sleeping girl in his bed. Instead,making his way straight to the closet. He reached for a random shirt and that's when he notice something was amiss: what was a dress doing in his closet? He looked around and noticed that none of the clothes were his. Did he mispronounce the name of the manor flooing in? He left the closet and had a look around. It was definitely his room, but someone was in the bed. He thought for a second if he should go wake her, but remembered Blaise's family problem and decided to pay a visit to his friend instead.

The blond did not bother knocking on his best friend's door and entered the room. Blaise was not in his bed and you could hear the water running in the adjacent bathroom. Draco grabbed a book from the bookshelf and took a seat in one of the armchairs of Blaise's bedroom. A few minutes later he heard the water stop and it didn't take long after his friend came out of the bathroom, fully dress thankfully.

"Hey mate", said Draco.

"Hey Drake, what's with the sweat pants and the t-shirt? The elves are on strike?"

"Funny, said Draco dryly, no I came here as soon as I woke up. I was not getting roped into attending tea with Mother again. So I flooed in my room…"

Blaise didn't say anything, obviously not remembering that Hermione was sleeping there.

"There was a girl in my bed mate, who is she?"

Blaise looked confused for a moment, until he remembered. His face blanched; he did not think Hermione would like if he told Draco about her secret.

"Oh, right! That's the family emergency I told you about… it's my cousin Mia. She's staying with us for the summer, her parents are travelling and she didn't want to accompany them."

"Why's she staying in my room?" asked Draco.

"She's going to be here for two months and she doesn't know the manor. Mother wanted her closer to me I guess. Your things have been moved to the third floor."

Draco accepted the explanation. He didn't know Blaise had a cousin, but then again there are some things that are kept quiet in the pureblood world. Before heading for the third floor, Draco asked Blaise if he was interested in a quidditch game after breakfast. Blaise was looking forward to trying his new Nimbus 2002 and accepted right away. He was supposed to wait for Hermione to wake up, but considering that Draco was in the house, he thought he should warn her before they ran into each other. Maybe she'd like to join for the quidditch game too!

Blaise knocked softly on Hermione's door. Hearing nothing he opened the door and found the girl still asleep. He made his way to the bed and shook the girl's shoulder.

"Grang-", he stopped.

He shook the girl's shoulder more violently and she opened her eyes slowly. Blaise was looking at her with a stunned expression. The girl he just woke up looked nothing like Hermione Granger.

"You look like a deer caught in headlights Blaise", said the girl.

"Caught in what? Nevermind this… Granger?"

"Yes… who else?"

"Well, right now you don't look like yourself at all. Might want to look at yourself in the mirror.

Hermione got up and walked to the bathroom. Blaise followed her and good thing he did. Almost as soon as she looked in the mirror Hermione fainted. Again. And Blaise caught her… Again.

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Getting Reacquainted**

Hermione woke up feeling disoriented for the second time in 3 days. Isabella was sitting next to her on her bed, smiling at her. As memory of earlier came back to her, she started to hyperventilate.

Hermione got out of her bed and went in the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror again. Blaise's mother followed her. Her reflection did not show her the image she had gotten used to seeing for 16 years. Instead of her brown frizzy hair she now had the typical straight black Zabini hair. She also had bright blue eyes instead of her warm brown ones. Her skin was naturally tan and her freckles were gone. Her face structure, height and body hadn't changed as far as she could tell.

"What happened to me? she asked.

"My guess is you had a glamour charm put on you" said Isabella. "I'm not sure why it revealed itself now, but I doubt I am powerful enough to put it back for more than a few hours. I'm sorry Hermione". Isabelle looked sad while saying this to Hermione. She couldn't imagine what it must feel like to not only have your ancestry changed, but your physical appearance as well.

"Well, there's no point crying I guess. If I'm going to look like a Zabini, might as well use the name they gave me. What is my full name?" she asked.

"Mia Annabelle Zabini. Your mother was French. My brother-in-law, Attilio, met her when on a diplomatic trip in France. Her name was Noémie de Laclos. She was a beautiful woman, you look a lot like her. Except she had red hair and green eyes. We became very close when Attilio brought her back, her and Narcissa were my best friends…" Isabella had a nostalgic look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry you lost her", said Mia.

"And I'm sorry you didn't get to know her", Isabella replied. "Anyway, it's almost lunch time and the boys must be famished after their morning of quidditch. Go change and we'll go down for lunch."

"The boys?" asked Mia. "Who else is here?"

"Draco is here." Isabella notice Mia's face change instantly as she mentioned the name and spoke before Mia could say anything. "Blaise told me there was bad blood between the two of you. We haven't told him about you, all he knows is that you're Blaise's cousin and that you are staying here for the summer. It's up to you to tell him what you want Mia. Before you go, I want you to think about giving him a chance. You should know that he's a nice man deep down. His dad is vey er…harsh on him and what you know of Draco might not be the all there is to him. I am not excusing anything he has done to you or your friends. I'm saying that you should get to know him under a different light and maybe use this chance to help him see the world differently. Regardless of what you decide, I will not tolerate fights or bad mouthing in this house, understand?"

Mia nodded.

"Go get dressed now, I'll wait for you in here and take you to the dining room".

Mia went in the closet, looked around to see where her clothes were and grabbed what she needed: underwear, a pair of jeans, a simple black shirt and a pair of sneakers. She changed quickly, brushed her teeth, comb her hair and went back into her bedroom. She might not be used to the new look, but she could certainly get use to how easy it was to tame her hair!

Mia followed Isabella. She asked her questions about her mother and father. Isabella was more than happy to answer all of Mia's question. Mia found out that her mother had been a French socialite, had gone to Beauxbâtons, she was fluent in French, English, and Italian. She had been surprised to hear that she had been an excellent quidditch chaser and even had been scouted by a French quidditch team! They were chatting happily when Isabella open the door to the dining room and Mia noticed that Blaise and Draco were already there waiting for them.

"Hi Mother, Hey Mia, said Blaise, I hope you are feeling better."

"Hmm, I am, thanks Blaise", said Mia.

"Mia, this is Draco Malfoy" said Isabella. "Draco, this is Mia Zabini. She is the daughter of Valentino's brother, you might have heard about him".

Draco remembered hearing once about Valentino's brother. His mother had told him he had died during the first war and that it was a sore subject for Valentino so he had never brought it up.

"Yes, I have heard of him. Hi Mia, it is nice to meet you", he said politely.

"You as well", said Mia. She was not sure if she meant it, but Isabella had put a hand on her shoulder as a reminder to be nice.

"Alright kids, let's grab some lunch!" said Isabella.

"Will Valentino be joining us?" asked Mia.

"No dear, he's at work. He works for the Department of International Magical Cooperation. He is the liaison with the Italian Ministry of Magic", replied Isabella.

Mia sat down in front of Blaise, Draco was sitting diagonally from her and Isabella took the head of the table. Like at Hogwarts, the plates and glasses who had been empty in front of them suddenly filled with sandwiches, soup, and pumpkin juice. It looked delicious. Mia decided it might give too much away if she complained about slave labour and decided to just enjoy the food. She was pleasantly surprise to see that Draco was not his usual smirking arrogant self. If only Harry, Ron or Ginny could see her right now, they would think she had been jinxed or something. She found herself thinking about her friends and how on earth she would explain to them what had happened this summer.

Mia jumped slightly at the sound of her name and looked up. Draco was looking at her expectantly.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" she asked.

"I asked what were your plans for this afternoon. Blaise and I were going for a swim and you are welcome to join us if you'd like."

Mia was quiet for a moment. She knew that Draco had no idea who she was, but it was only the second time in her life that he had spoke to her politely and she was at a loss of what to say. She looked at Blaise, he was smiling encouragingly.

"Hmm, alright. I have no other plans" she replied.

They finished eating quickly and Draco, Blaise and her left the table and headed towards their wing of the manor.

"So Mia, I asked Blaise about you, but he said if I wanted to know you I should just ask you myself. Where do you go to school?"

"Hogwarts" she replied without thinking. "I mean, I'm going to be at Hogwarts this year", she caught herself. She looked at Blaise panicked. She had to think fast, surely Draco would ask why she was transferring school! She had always been a terrible liar so she had to come up with a simple story.

"My parents passed away". It was not technically a lie, her biological parents had died…

"I'm sorry Mia, I didn't mean to bring up those memories". Draco actually looked apologetic. To say Mia was surprised would be an understatement.

"It's okay. I didn't know them. I was adopted when they pass away and only recently did I found out I still had relatives here. Isabella and Valentino decided to invite me for the summer when my adoptive parents had to go away for work". That was not a lie either.

"Where did you go to school before?"

Hermione thought quickly: "Beauxbâtons". Her mother's French heritage had popped up in her head. She looked at Blaise begging him with her eyes to stop this inquisition.

"Alright guys, said Blaise, enough talking and more changing! Mia, go change into your bathing suit and meet us right back here".

Mia left the boys at the first floor and climbed up the stairs.

"Your cousin is a sight" said Draco.

"I haven't noticed", said Blaise truthfully.

"She will turn the heads at Hogwarts. You'll have some major big brother protecting to do" the blond said .

"Oh yeah? Will I have to do some protecting against you?" said Blaise jokingly. He was laughing until he saw the look on Draco's face.

"You gotta be kidding…"

"Sorry, but between your cousin and Parkinson and the other girls we have at Hogwarts, I choose your cousin. You know my dad's constantly reminding me that I have to be married before my 18th birthday unless I want him to find me a 'suitable woman' ", said Draco.

Blaise groaned. He had never had a sister and whether he liked it or not, Mia was kind of a sister to him now. He had known about her only for a few day really, but she was family.

"Good luck… she's feisty" was all he replied to Draco. She might go by a different name now, but she still had Hermione Granger's personality…

To be continued…


End file.
